High dense cadmium lead-borate glasses: fabrication, physical properties and capability for γ-ray and neutron shields

High dense cadmium lead-borate glasses with nominal compositions of (75-X)B₂O₃-XPbO-5Na₂O-10CdO-10ZnO: X = 5–20 mol% in steps of 5 were fabricated via the melt quenching technique. The physical features and the capability of applying the prepared glasses as γ-ray and fast neutron shields have been investigated. The density (D_s) values increased from 4.820 g.cm⁻³ to 5.664 g cm⁻³ as PbO content increased from 5 to 20 mol% in the glass network. The polaron radius (r_p) increased, while the field strength (F) reduced as PbO content increased. The boron ion concentration (N_B) of the investigated glasses decreased from 2.231 × 10²² (ions.cm⁻³) to 1.503 × 10²² (ions/cm³). The inter-ionic distance (r_i) values increased from 3.551 to 4.051 A^o. Values of the packing density (P_d) decreased from 0.888 to 0.695. The free volume (V_f) enhanced from 2.105 to 6.698 g mol⁻¹ cm⁻². The sample BPNCZPb-20 possessed the highest exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) buildup factors values at 1– 40 MFP among all investigated glasses. The half- value layer (HVL_FCS) and the relaxation length (λ_FCS) values were the lowest for the BPNCZPb-5 glass sample. Therefore, the sample coded as BPNCZPb-20 can be considered as γ-ray shield, but BPNCZPb-5 glass can be used as a neutron shield.